


Piece of Cake

by quartetship



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Bakery, Bakery, Getting Together, M/M, request
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-21
Updated: 2017-04-21
Packaged: 2018-10-22 01:30:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,142
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10686993
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/quartetship/pseuds/quartetship
Summary: So Hunk did what he had always done when he was stressed. He baked.





	Piece of Cake

**Author's Note:**

> This is a request from ages ago that I'm finally getting posted, so I hope you guys enjoy reading this as much as I loved writing it. Thanks so much for reading!
> 
> \--

There is magic to behold, in baking. 

Hunk had always believed that to be true. When he was a child, he would watch his mother craft beautiful baked goods from simple ingredients, turning liquids and powders into delicacies the whole family loved. When he grew older, she taught him how to do so himself, and he fell in love with the chemistry, the science of baking the perfect pastry. Only as an adult did he realize that the creation of delicious food was not simply a science, but an art, teachable with time and a steady eye on sharing love through cooking. 

During culinary school, Hunk tried out all of his new recipes on his roommates and friends. Lance, his childhood companion and closest friend, was always happy to help. He taste-tested nearly everything Hunk had made, and while he deemed all of them to be excellent, Hunk had learned to read his features and know when he truly meant it. 

When Lance nodded, he liked the food. When he smiled, he liked something about it in particular, though he didn't always mention exactly what. When he spoke with his mouth still half-full, though, Hunk new the recipe was a winner, and those were the ones that made it into his portfolio, and later, onto the shelves of his bakery. Hunk lived for the way Lance's eyes would light up when he ate something especially incredible that Hunk had created. It was like watching someone receive happiness, directly from his heart to theirs. He cared a lot about how Lance’s heart felt, after all. 

That's what you do when you love someone. 

It hadn't taken him his entire life to realize how he felt about his best friend. By the time they were settling into their majors in college, Hunk knew he couldn't imagine his life without Lance as a part of it. The longer he sat on that though, the more it bloomed, flowering into a thing that had overgrown nearly every inch of his heart, vines squeezing every time Lance smiled in his direction. Hunk was well and truly smitten, but he hadn't bothered to actually bring that up with Lance. 

At least, not until he owned his own bakery, that is. 

The summer that he first turned the key and walked into his own place, Hunk felt as if everything happening around him was a dream. Watching his business find its footing, taking his first few steps as a professional - it all seemed like a perfect scene from someone else's life, playing out in front of him. It was all too easy, he thought. Except for the way he still stumbled over his words every time he tried to tell Lance exactly how he felt. 

It was ridiculous, really. Hunk was an adult, a business owner for god's sake, and yet he still tripped and fell flat on his face whenever he attempted to bring up the topic. He knew he'd have to find an easier way, to figure out how to get the butterflies out of his stomach and the weight off of his chest before they conspired to suffocate him in his own longing. 

So he did what he always did whenever he was stressed. He baked. 

Hunk baked his way through half his cookbooks before settling on what to present Lance with. It had to be something Lance would like, and it had to send a clear message. Cookies seemed too informal, no matter how much Lance loved them, and brownies weren't quite sophisticated enough. Somewhere in between an oatmeal jam biscuit and a French macaron, Hunk came to the idea of cake. Simple, sweet, and just the right vehicle for showing Lance how much he meant to him. He thumbed to a recipe he knew his best friend loved, and went to work. 

\--

Even at his hungriest, Lance probably couldn't have eaten an entire cake, by himself. Besides, Hunk didn't want to make him sick. Like he always did, Hunk hoped that every bite Lance took of his handiwork would bring him joy, show him just how much care had gone into it all, and how much Hunk cared for him, too. He baked a batch of a single dozen cupcakes, taking great pains to make them uniformly beautiful and uniquely delicious. He finished them with powder blue icing and a swirling script letter or design on each. Together, with four unlettered cakes to act as spaces, they spelled out a simple message arranged in a row. 

**I  L O V E  Y O U**

Hunk carefully put all twelve into a box and sealed it, tucking it into a low refrigerator until Lance arrived. 

\--

It was a little after six, when Lance’s car pulled up outside the bakery. He was there nearly every day, and though Hunk teased him about it, it was for more than the free leftovers Hunk always had to offer him. They spent most evenings there talking, about anything and everything, just enjoying one another's company. They would eat until they ran short of things to discuss and jokes to tell, usually leaving for the night with stomachs full to aching and happy hearts. 

At least Hunk’s heart was light and glad. He only hoped the same was true for Lance. 

When Lance took his usual seat at one of the bakery's two tiny tables, Hunk grinned, wishing his last customer good evening before locking the door behind her. Lance was laughing as he watched Hunk move back behind the counter to retrieve the cupcakes. 

“Got somethin’ special for us tonight, big man?” he wondered aloud. Hunk nodded, gingerly sliding the crisp, white box from where he'd kept it. 

“For you, yeah.” As he carried the box over to the table, his heart was in his ears, pulse thundering too loudly for him to think about anything other than the truth. It was finally time to be honest. He sat the box down, still just out of Lance’s reach. “It's. Kind of important.”

“Oh, yeah?” Lance asked, raising an eyebrow. He was still smiling, but skepticism ran through his voice. “Taste test stuff, or what?” 

“Nah, more important than that,” Hunk said quickly. When Lance eyed him suspiciously, Hunk hid his hands behind his back, wringing them, anxious. 

“I've, uh. I've got something that I've been needing to talk to you about for a while, and. It's kind of a big deal, so I've been really nervous about it. And you know how I get when I'm nervous, so… I decided it would be easier to bake you something.” 

Lance nodded along like it made some kind of sense, but when Hunk was finally finished talking, his laugh was short and tight. “I, uh…” Lance faltered, “I am totally confused right now, I'm gonna be honest. But if it's important to you, it's important to me, man. Show me whatcha got.” 

With that, Lance sat back, looking down at the box expectantly. Drawing as deep a breath as his aching chest would allow, Hunk nodded, carefully removing the box’s lid. When it was fully visible, he slid the tray of treats gently across the table, just to be sure Lance could see them. He waited, and he tried to remember to breathe. 

“I… I know it might be weird,” he said, a few moments later when the stunned silence between them had gone on for a bit too long. “And it probably looks silly, thinking about it now. But… ‘Want’ was too forward and kind of weird and ‘like’ really wasn't enough, because you  _ like _ friends, but I feel a lot more for you than just friendship, so like. Yeah. I just. That's what I wanted to say.” Another silence followed as Lance just stared down at the cakes, blinking slowly, speechless. Panic began to set in somewhere between Hunk’s stomach and his chest. 

“It's… If you don't feel the same way I totally understand. I don't wanna make things weird. Although I probably just did. I just. Yeah. There it is.” 

Finally, after what might have been a full five minutes of silence, Lance looked up at him, eyes still wide. 

“You… You are my favorite person in the entire world, you know that?” He looked back at the cupcakes, picking up one without a letter and taking an enthusiastic bite. As soon as the fluffy icing and dense, moist cake hit his tongue, he sighed, and Hunk’s heart squeezed in an all too familiar way. 

“And this… This is my favorite cake, isn't it?” Lance said brightly, mouth still half full and eyes sparkling with happiness. “You made my favorite cake, with my favorite color, just to tell me that you love me. You are the greatest human being on this or any other planet, sir.” Lance swallowed his mouthful, licking his lips before beaming from ear to ear. “And I love you, too.” 

“You - Really?!” Hunk asked, a brand new feeling taking the place of the tightness in his chest. It was like falling, like tripping and tumbling through nothingness and spinning until his head was dizzy with it, all with a smile growing wider on his face. He laughed, giddy. “Not just because of the cake?” 

“Because of you,” Lance said, and there wasn't an ounce of insincerity in his voice. “Because you're the best friend I've ever had. Because you're so sweet you literally bake cakes to tell people you love them. And because…” He slid his hands across the table, lacing his fingers with Hunks. “Because you make me happy.” 

At that, Hunk felt his every worry lift. Unable to stop himself, he leaned forward until his nose bumped against Lance’s, laughing aloud as their foreheads came to rest against one another's. He was fairly certain the tiny cafe table wouldn't hold his weight if he leaned hard onto his elbows for too long, but he didn't care. 

Lance loved him. It was the most perfect cake tasting he'd ever conducted, all because his favorite person was looking back at him from across the table, the sheen of frosting glitter still on his smiling lips. Hunk took a stuttering breath, thoughts of those lips clear and present on his mind. 

“Could, uh… Could I kiss you right now?” he asked, and Lance wasted no time in nodding. 

“Was hoping that was step two,” he said, his mouth nearly flush with Hunk’s as he whispered it, and then they were kissing, sighing at the slide of sugar-dusted lips and hands sliding easily through hair. Somehow, it was the most natural thing in the world, and Hunk’s only regret was that he hadn't summoned the courage to bake that batch of cupcakes years earlier. 

“I love you,” he repeated when they finally separated a moment later. Part of him just needed to hear it in his own voice this time, to know for certain that Lance understood. Across from him, Lance bit his bottom lip, smiling despite it. 

“Love you too, big guy. I kinda hope this isn't the last batch of treats you make for me.” He dragged a finger through the icing of another cupcake, making a slow and silly show of licking it off. Hunk laughed, if only to keep himself from sweating in response. 

“You know it won't be. Anything you want,  _ anytime _ you want - it's yours.” 

Lance cocked his head to one side, smiling wider by the second. “That so? Well, how about this: I want you to ditch that apron, and come out with me tonight. Maybe we can eat the rest of this cake back at my house, if you catch my drift.” He waggled his eyebrows, prompting Hunk to snort with laughter again, probably only slightly more interested in the suggestion in Lance's tone than he should have been. 

“What's the matter with my apron?” he teased. Lance looked him over, shrugging. 

“Honestly? Nothing. You can leave it on, if you want to. I don't mind if everyone knows my boyfriend is a bomb-ass baker. Just thought you might wanna change.” 

“Boyfriend?” Hunk repeated, ignoring most of the rest of what was said. Lance blinked back at him for a split second, then nodded, grinning like a cat. 

“That sound good to you?” he asked. “I can't really bake or I'd spell it out on cookies for you or something.” 

At that, Hunk did remove his apron, swatting Lance with it, only to have Lance snatch it to use as leverage to pull him close for another sweet, slow kiss. 

“Thank you for the cake,” he whispered between barely-caught breaths. “Best I've ever had.” 

“Won't be the last,” Hunk promised. He was sure there would come a day when another important message would make its way into icing. 

They'd bake that cake when they came to it, though. 


End file.
